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Big Life Decision

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Buy a simple house in a bucolic setting, buy a simple car, be frugal and be happy with life.
 
Originally posted by: waffleironhead
Do what you want to do. Houses are not investments, they are places to live.
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sadly, if everyone thought like this, i bet the whole "flipper fantasy" bullshit would have never happened and the economy wouldn't have gone in the shitter like it did
 
Go with the condo if it is a good enough deal.

When you are ready for a bigger place down the road you can either sell condo or rent it out.

Just make sure you don't buy a stupid condo. They converted a lot of apartments into condos in the Orlando market. So the real estate market is flooded with tiny ass one bedroom condos that no one wants to buy. So make sure the place you bought started as a condo and not as an apartment building or else you may regret it down the road.
 
Originally posted by: Aimster
my parents have put it into my head that I'm making the wrong decision and I listen to them most of the time.

I want to do option A:

A) Buy a luxury condo in a beautiful neighborhood. 1400sq-ft. The price on this condo is so cheap that I can afford some great furniture and even buy a luxury car (new MDX)

They are saying this is the wrong decision. I am just throwing my money away according to them. They think I should do option B because option A is a condo and it will not appreciate as much. Hell it might even depreciate.

B) Get a big house/townhouse. The pro of this is that the house/townhouse will appreciate a lot in the future when the market stabilizes. However, I will be paying a lot more monthly for this house and I will have far less cash in my bank account after to want to buy anything fancy like furniture or a car. I'll basically just have the same life-style now.
No 65" LCD and no MDX 🙁
Option B might be "too much house for me", but my parents are always behind me if I can't pay my mortgage which is why they keep pushing this more.

I am single.. option B is no fun..
I guess I made this thread to get some more input from the older crowd. Sure a lot of people have been in my shoes before.
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option D... buy a mid sized house with several acres of land in a rural neighborhood for half the price of either A & B, buy your furniture & TV, and have lots of drunken parties with daily orgies.
 
Between the two, A. You know your budget and it sounds like you could / should be able to save money while living there if it's so cheap. You could gamble on the other place and take a chance, but it sounds riskier since you won't have as much room in your budget.
 
Originally posted by: waffleironhead
Do what you want to do. Houses are not investments, they are places to live. If you will be miserable in a house, get the condo. Buy you tv, get the car. Just remember, you can always sell the condo and step up if you decide you need more space later.
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I agree. Buying a house is overrated. Buy what you want to live in.
 
Go with the one that doesn't have an HOA. :laugh: if both places are HOA, then you're gonna be miserable for the rest of your life anyway (almost like being married ;P) so you just pick up the place that allows you to buy a little bit of happiness.
 
Cars are not what you want to be spending your money on IMO. Condo will always be a condo, what you buy is what you'll sell, except it is older now. 65" is not a bad investment tho...lol
I was in your shoe, I bought a condo that I don't even live in it, but I get full support from the parents (mom and sister live in it now) on the investment.. seriously I paid like 2K on the condo last year, this year so far maybe $800 of miscellaneous stuff. But my shoe is different .. I bought a condo in the heart of Casablanca tho, I don't see it ever depreciating as people dream to live in that side of the city...2 miles from the ocean/ ocean drive, 1 mile from the biggest shopping area in the country, marble floors,etc...
My advice to you would be to carefully think about it, make a decision and live with it like Flipped Gazelle said.
 
Buy the condo, you can always sell it with the equity you've built and upgrade to the house when you have someone else to live in it with you.
 
Originally posted by: rasczak
Go with the one that doesn't have an HOA. :laugh: if both places are HOA, then you're gonna be miserable for the rest of your life anyway (almost like being married ;P) so you just pick up the place that allows you to buy a little bit of happiness.
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This!



House > Condo

No Hoa > Hoa
 
Originally posted by: waffleironhead
Do what you want to do. Houses are not investments, they are places to live. If you will be miserable in a house, get the condo. Buy you tv, get the car. Just remember, you can always sell the condo and step up if you decide you need more space later.
Click to expand...

This. Houses are not investments. Historically they dont appreciate much. Only during this recent housing bubble have houses gone through the roof. And look how that turned out.

If you are young as in 25 or under id go with option A. You have time on your side to splurge on a few luxury items. Pay them off asap and start your future savings after that.
 
Originally posted by: waffleironhead
Do what you want to do. Houses are not investments, they are places to live. If you will be miserable in a house, get the condo. Buy you tv, get the car. Just remember, you can always sell the condo and step up if you decide you need more space later.
Click to expand...

QFT.... So many people are brainwashed with the idea of a house being an investment....
 
Originally posted by: sao123
Originally posted by: Aimster
my parents have put it into my head that I'm making the wrong decision and I listen to them most of the time.

I want to do option A:

A) Buy a luxury condo in a beautiful neighborhood. 1400sq-ft. The price on this condo is so cheap that I can afford some great furniture and even buy a luxury car (new MDX)

They are saying this is the wrong decision. I am just throwing my money away according to them. They think I should do option B because option A is a condo and it will not appreciate as much. Hell it might even depreciate.

B) Get a big house/townhouse. The pro of this is that the house/townhouse will appreciate a lot in the future when the market stabilizes. However, I will be paying a lot more monthly for this house and I will have far less cash in my bank account after to want to buy anything fancy like furniture or a car. I'll basically just have the same life-style now.
No 65" LCD and no MDX 🙁
Option B might be "too much house for me", but my parents are always behind me if I can't pay my mortgage which is why they keep pushing this more.

I am single.. option B is no fun..
I guess I made this thread to get some more input from the older crowd. Sure a lot of people have been in my shoes before.
Click to expand...


option D... buy a mid sized house with several acres of land in a rural neighborhood for half the price of either A & B, buy your furniture & TV, and have lots of drunken parties with daily orgies.
Click to expand...

:laugh: That's not an option for everyone. OP lives in Northern Virginia, not Pennsyltucky.
 
Originally posted by: soulcougher73
Originally posted by: waffleironhead
Do what you want to do. Houses are not investments, they are places to live. If you will be miserable in a house, get the condo. Buy you tv, get the car. Just remember, you can always sell the condo and step up if you decide you need more space later.
Click to expand...

This. Houses are not investments. Historically they dont appreciate much. Only during this recent housing bubble have houses gone through the roof. And look how that turned out.

If you are young as in 25 or under id go with option A. You have time on your side to splurge on a few luxury items. Pay them off asap and start your future savings after that.
Click to expand...

This is the truth. Your primary residence is not an investment. Don't forget, with the house there will be a lot more time spent on upkeep than with the condo.
 
HOw do you know the condo will not appreciate? Is it not in a city? Is the house in the same area? If so, what makes you think it will appreciate alot f the market stabalizes? If they are both in the same area, then they will both appreciate/depreciate in value at the same time....that is unless the condo is a place for hoodlums and crack houses.

If your single, man, a house is gonna suck......

Buy the condo...then sell it when you are ready to settle down more.
 
Originally posted by: waffleironhead
Do what you want to do. Houses are not investments, they are places to live. If you will be miserable in a house, get the condo. Buy you tv, get the car. Just remember, you can always sell the condo and step up if you decide you need more space later.
Click to expand...

Wrong.

My first house was in a less-than-glamorous part of town and needed a lot of work. When I sold, I made nearly 3 years' salary. I had the place not quite 8 years.

That, by far, has outperformed any other 'investment' I've ever made.

That said, don't buy something you'll be miserable in unless it fits a goal - I didn't really like the house I had, but it suited a long-term goal. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't anything close to my first pick.

New cars are throwing money down the drain - the minute you drive them off the lot, they're worth 20% less than you paid.
 
My wife and I didn't even tell her parents when we bought our first home. A couple years later we sold it and used the proceeds to put 20% down on the house we live in now.

Condo was around 1,300 sq ft. Our current home is 2,200 sq ft. Do what's right for you.
 
Originally posted by: rivan
Originally posted by: waffleironhead
Do what you want to do. Houses are not investments, they are places to live. If you will be miserable in a house, get the condo. Buy you tv, get the car. Just remember, you can always sell the condo and step up if you decide you need more space later.
Click to expand...

Wrong.

My first house was in a less-than-glamorous part of town and needed a lot of work. When I sold, I made nearly 3 years' salary. I had the place not quite 8 years.

That, by far, has outperformed any other 'investment' I've ever made.
Click to expand...

Did you use that money to buy another house? How much did that house cost relative to the previous house?

I think the point that waffleironhead is that you should look at your first home primarily as a home, not as an investment. The value will likely go up, but so will the values of the houses around you. You've only really made any money when you either 1) sell your house and don't buy another one or 2) sell your house and move to a less expensive area. Otherwise you're just riding the same wave as everyone else. Improvements do help, and can be a good "investment." But a trap that a lot of people fall into is improving their house to suit the next owner. It's your home first, an investment second.
 
Get the condo. The house will be too much space for just you, and the housing may not recover for 10 years.
 
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